Activists push for climate change plan

CCPA would mandate state be entirely free of fossil fuels by 2050

With just nine days left in the legislative session, dozens of environmental activists are calling on state lawmakers to pass the Climate and Community Protection Act — a sweeping piece of state legislation aimed at addressing climate change by achieving zero carbon emissions and revamping the energy economy.

The CCPA, if adopted, would set lofty goals for New York state, including a mandate that the state be entirely free of fossil fuels by 2050. By 2030, the state would have to get at least half of its electricity from renewables, up from the current 28 percent.

The measure would also require 40 percent of state clean energy funding be spent on projects in economically disadvantaged communities, which supporters of the CCPA say are more heavily affected by extreme weather events and climate change.

Dozens of agricultural groups across the state are also calling on members of the state Senate Committee on Environmental Conservation to include a climate and agricultural working group in the CCPA, which would incorporate agricultural practices into the climate solution.

Things like increased cover cropping and improved soil nutrition help sequester atmospheric carbon in the ground, where the carbon can fertilize plants. Currently, agriculture is underutilized in the fight against climate change, according to Samantha Levy, New York policy manger for American Farmland

Trust, a conservationist group.

A Cornell study published last November found that existing natural and working lands can sequester 21 percent of the nation’s annual greenhouse gas emissions, if properly managed.

But with the International Panel on Climate Change projecting that humans have 12 years to prevent significant climate change-related damage, Levy said lawmakers can’t wait another year to pass the measure.

“With this framework, it’s going to take some time to mobilize and take hold,” Levy said. “Climate change is the type of issue ... that we really need to get moving on in a big way.”

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, however, has been hesitant to support the CCPA. He has instead favored the more moderate Climate Leadership Act, which would achieve carbon neutral emissions — meaning carbon emissions are equal to carbon that’s removed or sequestered — rather than zero carbon emissions.

Environmentalists have said that measure doesn’t go far enough. Groups like the Business Council of New York State, meanwhile, argue the CCPA’S long-term goals will spell the loss of tens of thousands of manufacturing and energy-intensive jobs.

Cuomo indicated this week that the bill’s passage was unlikely this legislative session, though proponents of the bill contend that hefty legislation is passed at the last minute every year.

“Albany often does an enormous amount of legislative work in the last 10 to 14 days of session,” said Arielle Swernoff, communications coordinator for New York Renews, an environmental advocacy coalition.

“They’ve done similar amounts of work before,” she said. “We feel confident they can do it again, particularly if the governor gets on board.”